The Big 6-0
by Ida Williams, New Skete Employee This summer I turn the “big 6-0.” As my oldest grandson said as we were watching fireworks one night, “That’s a big one!” It feels just like yesterday when I was saying, “I’m 50, and I can kick, and stretch, and kick.” The average life expectancy in the United States is 79 years, so I am in the third-third of my life. I am pondering about what my life will look like during this final third. When will I retire; will I travel; will I become a snowbird? At retirement age, I will have spent more than a third of my employed years working for New Skete. This monastery that I and so many others love will be celebrating its “big 6-0” in a few years. Unlike me, New Skete has no thoughts of retirement or scaling back. During New Skete’s 50th anniversary celebration, we created a commemorative journal highlighting the Then, Now, and Tomorrow of the monastery and its work. A copy of...